When I Was Young
by MaggieCute
Summary: A new genin is in Konoha, a strange girl who originated from the Night village. She's daring, she's persistant but will it be enough to suvive?
1. Chapter 1: The Third Genin

When I was young

**When I was young**

**1- The Third Genin**

Oh great, here they were the new Genins that had been entrusted to him. Kamaki who was so engrossed in his clipboard hadn't noticed that the third and final Genin was not present. He lazily flicked his ponytail over his shoulder as he re-read the three names before his eyes before he made any kind of introduction speech, he didn't want to make a fool of himself. The girl and the boy in his wake were completely silent and he could almost feel the tension, the eagerness to begin the first test and the many questions that would have to be put forward and answered.

Kamaki lowered the clipboard and took a good look at the two of them. The girl on the left was sprawled out over the steps in the sun, her face was expressionless and her short brown curls were splayed out around her. The Sensei let out a frustrated snort, the girl was acting like she was sunbathing on a sunny beach and the training ahead of her was nothing but mere child's play. Her fingers rested around the chain of a gold K about her neck.

Kamaki's eyes flickered back to the list "So this girl is either Kaede Feinma or Katsumi Kokoro then?" He asked himself "I had better keep my eye on her; I can sense that she might be something of a troublemaker."

The other Genin, the boy, sat beside the girl his eyes fixed on a crow in a nearby tree. He too had a gormless face but on closer inspection Kamaki could detect some impatience behind the dark bangs.

"Secret Adonis," Kamaki thought as he studied the last name, funny…the child was small, much smaller than the girl and looked like an easy target in battle but that determined look in his eyes was unmissable.

The Sensei peered over the wall that he was slouched on, looking for the final student, he could feel the eyes of the others upon him. The girl was no where to be seen, at least he thought it was a girl…Kaede or Katsumi didn't sound like a boy's name though the spelling could've been wrong.

The mystery girl sat up suddenly her face posed as if she was about to announce some speech "Are we gonna start or what?" She whined giving the K a small flick.

Kamaki rolled his eyes, she was idle and impatient, he really was going have his work cut out here.

"We're gonna start when the third and final Genin arrives," He explained, talking like he was addressing a small child and the girl in answer roller her eyes back at him "Well she's certainly taking her sweet time," She complained "Iruka-Sensei pulled us away at the end of class yesterday when he was putting the teams together and told us some girl was gonna be teamed up with us, apparently he said that she was one too many in her class…" She trailed off as her eyes scanned the horizon for any sight of the final Genin "Let's just hope her ninja's skills are better than her turning up on time..."

Secret's ears suddenly pricked up as he turned to the door, he heard footsteps pounding up the steps to the roof garden. Glancing around at the others he wondered if they had heard them to.

Kamaki grimaced as he stared down at his watch, it was getting later and later with every second passing "We'll give her five more minutes, if she's not here by then, then we'll just have to…" He was suddenly cut off by a small soft voice coming from behind him and they all turned. They were faced with a tall girl, the mass of sandy blonde that hair fell halfway down her back was scraped back into a ponytail and her eyes of piercing blue flickered slightly as she spoke "Uh, Excuse me, are you Kamaki-Sensei?" She asked shyly and dug her hands deeper into the pockets of her cut-offs. Kamaki smiled and nodded "Yes I am, and which one of the Genins are you?"

She winced slightly and the brunette sat a few feet away snorted "I'm Katsumi Kokoro," Katsumi replied, scuffing her sandals on the paving stones not meeting the eyes of the Sensi.

Kamaki smiled and ticked off the last name on the checklist, "So you must be Kaede Feinma," He questioned his eyes on the solemn brunette.

"Well, duh!" She laughed "Did you really think that Kaede was a boy's name?"

She prodded Secret in the back with the toe of her sandal and Secret frowned and shook his head. "Just checking," Kamaki replied a hint of frustration in his voice.

Katsumi stepped down from the wall and Secret shuffled along slightly so that she could sit down next to him "Sorry about her," He muttered under his breath "She does it to everyone. Katsumi shrugged off his apology with a small smile "S'ok, I don't really mind,"

Secret grinned "Well you take it better than a lot of people; I've known her nearly all my life and I still can't stand her!" He sighed softly "I'm Secret Adonis by the way," Secret held out his hand to her and Katsumi shook it gently. "So, you're new here? Don't you come from the Village hidden in the Night or somewhere? I think Iruka-Sensei said something about it when he was teaming us up…" The blonde Genin nodded and was about to reply when Kamaki stood up and announced "Ok, come on Genins, lets go and begin the first test!"

Kaede jumped up from her place from the paving stones and began prancing off ahead to the steps muttering "Finally!" To herself, Secret fell back slightly and Kamaki approached Katsumi "Could I have a quick word Katsumi-san?" He mumbled in her ear. The Genin nodded and walked with him down the metal steps to the road which was almost completely empty. "Your former Sensei was Isamu Hatake right?" Kamaki inquired retying his headband and pulling up the first two pages on the clipboard. He gave a slight tug and Katsumi's file came loose, he ran his finger down the information "Yeah, here we go, Hatake Isamu."

He chuckled "I used to train with Isamu quite a lot but anyway, have you ever been to Konoha before? Know your way around?"

Katsumi thought back "No, I don't ever think I have…" She trailed off "I've seen it from a distance but never actually been here before."

The Sensei nodded "Well it's quite easy to find your way around after a while but that's if you're staying. This final test with determine if you stay and train in team sixteen or go back to your academy for another year, I guess if you went back there would be a place for you in another team but I don't think any of us want that."

Katsumi shook her head "What is the final test Sensei?" She asked, playing with a small bracelet around her wrist and praying that she wouldn't have to go back to the academy, anywhere was better than there. "Oh just a simple task of retrieving," Kamaki smiled "Think your up to it?" The blonde Genin looked up at him and smiled "Oh yes," She answered enthusiastically "I'm ready for anything!"

Secret hurried forward slightly so that we was in pace with Kaede "So?" He asked her slowly "What do you think of the new girl?" Kaede turned to look at him and she narrowed her eyes "Pfft, what's there to say about her?" She replied in a flat uninterested tone "Dress Sense is pretty bad but personally I don't really want anything to do with her," She turned her head upwards slightly and eyed Katsumi's cut-offs and baggy t-shirt disdainfully. Her team mate sighed "Just because you dress like your going to a flipping prom every night Kaede-chan, it doesn't mean everyone is below you if they don't dress the way you like," He kicked a stone and it bounced off down the pavement. "I bet she's a right troublemaker," Kaede continued "She certainly looks it."

"Y'know what, I bet you there will be an even more annoying and selfish little troublemaker where were going," He frowned.

"Really?" Kaede asked not getting at what Secret was saying,

"Yeah really, and I'm looking at her," He finished sourly and jogged forward to join his new teamate and Sensei a few meters ahead. "It's Katsumi-san right?" He panted as he came to a halt beside her; she nodded and gave him a small glance "Or Kat, either one I don't mind."

"Why Kat?" Secret inquired "That seems like a rather strange diminutive of Katsumi…" Kat shrugged and went back to fiddling with her bracelet. Her teamate looked in closer at her wrist then up at her "That's a pretty bracelet, where did you get it?"

The kunoichi gave the bracelet a small twist and held it up in front of her "My cousin made it for me when I was seven, it was about five years ago now but I have never taken it off, it kinda makes me feel like I have a part of her with me wherever I go…" She trailed off thinking about how to finish the story but Secret had already begun speaking again "Are you quite close to them then?"

Kat nodded "Yeah we are, it's quite a strong bond too but it's kinda hard to explain…"

The Sensei's eyes widened at the Genin's speech. _Quite a strong bond _he repeated to himself. No, she couldn't be…or at least he didn't think there were any more of _those kind_ alive. Was this girl and whoever her cousin was one of _them_ like he was?

Kat held the bracelet closer to Secret, six beads of different colours met his eyes and six miniature words had gently been inked onto the wood on each bead by a delicate hand: _Faith, Hope, Friendship, Love, Joy, Devotion_ they read.

"Wow!" Secret exclaimed "Did you do the writing?" The Genin nodded again "Six good things, six things that keep us going. They're positioned together on the bracelet in order. Faith and Hope in Friendship and Love, "She pointed to the four beads "But in Friendship and in Love, there is also Joy and Devotion and it's an endless cycle of good in this world."

Kamaki sighed quietly to himself, if only there was an endless cycle of good. He hadn't been the same since his sister had passed away. It had been absolute agony to receive that telegram and even more agony after the aftershock of disbelief worn off. He had tried to distract himself with the prospect of a new team of Genins to train but it had still been hard to drag himself into work every morning and even harder to return home at night.

Secret's eyes flashed in the sunlight as he ran his fingers over the coloured beads "Endless cycle of good, huh? So I guess it can kind of be described like a wedding ring, Y'know endless love and all that stuff?"

"I guess it could be described like that," Kat contemplated, gently twirling the bracelet with her index finger "But love is only one of the six."

All four of them continued on in silence for a while, Secret kept throwing the blonde kunoichi small glances but she never once looked at him. He felt his cheeks going slightly red and his heart began to race and he wished he hadn't mentioned all that stuff about love, what if this girl thought he was hinting. He coughed slightly and opened his mouth to say something to break the silence but before the words had reached his lips he felt sharp nails digging into his shoulder and warm breath on his neck "Don't try and get her to like you Secret-kun, it's not worth it. People like her will just break your heart and it will save you a lot of pain for the future," Kaede's voice muttered in his ear, she ran her fingers up his arm and grinned to herself.

Katsumi didn't notice the other two Genins next to her, she turned her head to the sky and her eyes closed slightly in the blare of the warm sunlight as she thought back and remembered.


	2. Chapter 2: No Place for You

When I was young

**2- No Place for you**

"Yuuto Arjuna?" Isamu called out flatly, tapping his pen impatiently on the desktop. A tall fair girl, sporting a long black top and white leggings, stepped out of the line and faced her Sensei "Ok Arjuna-san, in your own time," Isamu murmured. His eyes flickered slightly to the side where they rested on Katsumi who was leaning against the wall, her blue eyes narrowed at Arjuna. He rolled his own eyes. Katsumi Kokoro, Another one of the troublemakers, he dreaded to see what she had in store for them all. He couldn't understand it; five years ago Katsumi had been an excellent student, taking everything very seriously and top in anything but after she turned eight it had all began to slide downhill. Oh she was still determined, he would give her that but without the skill of patience or obedience it didn't really do much for her.  
Isamu rested his hands around the back of his head as Arjuna took a few deep breaths and began performing the necessary hand signals. Two seconds later there was a massive rush of white smoke and a second Isamu stood before the class.  
The Sensei nodded his approval at his double "Very nice Arjuna-san, I'm just a little shorter than usual that's all but you pass," He held out one of the many forehead protectors lined up in front of him. Arjuna, who had transformed back in a matter of seconds, stepped forward to accept her reward; she fingered the moon symbol triumphantly and shot a sour look at Katsumi. The blonde kunoichi looked away in disgust; she couldn't stand that snooty, stuck up brat. When they had first started at the academy all had gone smoothly for a few terms but when Arjuna joined things had begun to fall off the tracks for Katsumi. Apart from being one of the most popular girls with the students and sensei's who all thought she was incredible she was also somewhat of a bully, her and her little group of what Katsumi called 'followers' and Katsumi, was normally their main target. It had been hurtful and upsetting what they did to her for the first couple of years but as time had gone on and all of them had matured and grown from young children into full fledged kids, it didn't really stand as tall as it once did.  
Standing up to stretch his legs, Isamu trotted around the desk making a mark next to Arjuna's name on the clipboard "Ok, five minute break people, go outside and do whatever, just stay away from the staff room." He scooped up a timer on his desk and set the clock for five minutes.  
The entire class bolted for the door in a rush of feet and swirling paper except one, Katsumi took her time wandering outside. Most of the class had hurried off around the front to spy on the Sensei's staff room oblivious to Isamu's orders but a few of them had remained around the back in small groups. Katsumi settled herself on the swing out of the way and began drawing in the dirt at her feet with a long stick in the shadows.  
Isamu watched her through the window and sighed; he drew a long breath on his morning cigar and pulled her file closer. The photo attached with the paperclip portrayed the young kunoichi sat behind the screen, a scowl etched across her face as the camera man did everything in his will power to make her smile. He compared the photo's four year difference with the girl sat alone under the tree. The eight year old Katsumi's hair was short and flat and if she hadn't been wearing the tangerine frock she could have easily been mistaken for a boy. It had been a major shock for everyone when she had sauntered into the class that Monday morning four years ago, having sheared off all her long sandy hair. Looking past the physical appearance he scanned the form closely and let out a long breath as his eye caught the student number under her name, number twenty five. He did a quick calculation in his head, three in a team, eight three's in twenty five with one left over, eight teams and one on their own.  
He held her file loosely and chewed on his finger nails in thought; if Katsumi was to pass she wouldn't be able to be in a team, she would be the one left over and then what would happen to her? Would she be back in the academy for another year? He knew if she heard this she would be absolutely devastated and personally he really didn't want to see her left behind. Isamu had faith in all his students but with Katsumi, maybe just a little bit more.  
The timer next to him let off a loud, ear piercing ring and Isamu jumped so violently that he dropped Katsumi's file, it crashed to the floor and the few pages broke free from the paperclip and fluttered across the room. Muttering darkly under his breath and throwing the stopwatch dirty looks as he went, he picked up the runaway pages and dumped them on the desk "ALRIGHT!" He hollered out of the doorway "Everyone back inside, we still have a ton of people to go through."  
On the other side of the courtyard, Katsumi jumped off the swing seat and scuffing out the words which she had engraved in the soil she jogged back across the tarmac and was first into the classroom. As she went Isamu grabbed her shoulder pulling her back "Katsumi-san, I want to do you separately to the others." Katsumi opened her mouth to protest "It's not that your getting special treatment or you've been naughty or anything, it's just I need to talk to you." Katsumi wriggled free of her Sensei "That's what everyone says, that they want a 'private chat' and keep you behind when really they're gonna give you a huge lecture about whatever. Listen Sensei, you either evaluate me with the others or not at all,"  
Isamu frowned "I told you, you're not in trouble but if you won't shut that smart mouth of yours you will be young lady." As the last of the class filed in he gave her a small push "Go on, go back outside until I call you in, it won't take long," Katsumi narrowed her eyes slightly and shoved her way past the last minute stragglers, stepping back out into the sunlight.

About forty five minutes later, after Isamu had sent the last of the students home, he called the kunoichi back inside. She came without a fuss and sunk down into the chair in front of his desk to hear what he had to say.  
Isamu twiddled his thumbs as his gaze settled on her "Katsumi-san, I have some sad news but it will only matter if you pass the exam," He lent closer to her across the desk "In this class you are one over the limit and if you pass you won't be able to be fitted into a team because you are one to many and we cannot put you in a team of four…" He trailed off and bit his lip as Katsumi's mouth dropped open "So what's going to happen to me?" She choked almost soundlessly hardly unable to believe what she was hearing.  
"We're going to have to put you in a team with one member to short of course and luckily something has come up." He flapped a sheet of paper in front of her eyes "This is from the academy in Konoha, the leaf village; they say they would be happy to accept you as they are one student too short."  
"So your gonna kick me out?" Katsumi snapped "Kick me out of my childhood village where I have worked and trained everyday of my life to become worth something?"  
Isamu put up his hand to silence her "We're not kicking you out; you will still live here but just travel everyday to Konoha, it's not that far…Look." He took a map out of the top draw and laid it in front of Katsumi. He traced his finger from the Night Village, across part of the forest and into the village of Konoha. "You could reach there everyday in less than two hours if you got an early enough start and anyway Katsumi-san this could be a great opportunity for you. I bet half you classmates would give their right arm for something like this."  
"I'm still not convinced; I don't know anyone in Konoha or my way around…" Katsumi muttered darkly, gripping the sides of the plastic chair in frustration.  
"Well it's luckily you have got some good team mates and a nice Sensei then isn't it?" He replied his eyes twinkling "In fact I used to train with the man who is going to be your Sensei. Kamaki Hashi."  
He lent back in his chair "I'm being very honest here Katsumi-san, your throwing away the chance of a lifetime and…"  
"Would I get the Night or Leaf forehead protector?" Katsumi asked cutting into his speech.  
"Leaf, I mean you are training in Konoha after all, they sent a spare one over," He dropped the forehead protector with the Konoha symbol onto the desktop and folded his arms "These are your only options Katsumi-san, it's either this or spending another year the academy or even just giving up becoming a ninja entirely.  
Katsumi lent on the desk "The last thing I want to do!" She cried "Not become a ninja, don't even say it!"  
The Sensei smiled "So, do you want to stay on another year here or go ahead and achieve your goal to become a ninja in Konoha?"  
Katsumi closed her eyes and sighed playing with the small bracelet around her wrist. Isamu knew Katusmi well enough to know that she would never give up in being a ninja, it had been her dream from day one and she would do whatever it took to become what she wanted to be. Both of them were silent for a few minutes. The girl sat motionless her eyes pressed shut and sorted through her options. Eventually she answered him "I'll do it," She whispered. Isamu smiled triumphantly "That's brilliant!" He exclaimed. The Sensei jumped to his feet and clapped his hands "Well what are we waiting for? Let's get this exam on the go!"

Katsumi stood in front of her mirror, the headband with the Konoha symbol stood out on her forehead and she grinned, it wasn't so bad to be different and even her cousin Rei had been begging for a go to wear it. It had only been a few hours since the exam but as the kunoichi untied the knot and laid her new forehead protector on the pillow next to her, slipping under the duvet as she did so, she felt like she had achieved more that day than she ever had in her entire life.


	3. Chapter 3: The Bell Test

3- The Bell Test

**3- The Bell Test**

The field was bright and airy as the three Genins and Sensei trudged up the small pathway letting the wooden gate close behind them. Kamaki grinned and ran his hand over his coat pocket; his fingers touched the two small budges of the bells. He just hoped that at least one of them was up to the challenge.  
"Ok Genin's, over here to begin the first test," He called too his three new students "We've wasted enough time as it is."  
At his words the three teammates turned a little shocked and Kaede was the first to speak "But Sensei we're really hungry, can't we have a bit of lunch first?"  
Kamaki lent against a tree and shook his head "You can have lunch after the test," He replied modestly and drew out two small bells with his thumb and index finger. "Ok bottom line, basically you have to get these bells off me by noon or you fail." He pointed to three tall stumps on the outskirts of the forest "If you pass you get lunch, if you fail you will be tied to one of these three posts and watch me eat my lunch."  
Kaede glared at him "But I'm staving, how do you expect us to get the bells when were all really hungry? And what is the aim or point of this test anyway?"  
Kamaki sighed "The point is to see how much you have leaned after your years at studying at the academy and the aim…well that's for you guys to work out for yourselves."  
"But Kamaki-sensei there are three of us and only two bells," Katsumi pointed out, toying with the hem of her t-shirt. "Exactly so at least one of you three will fail," The Sensei replied reaching back into his pocket and fishing out a timer. Pressing the small buttons at the top he set it on the tallest stump "You have two hours starting…" His brought his hand down on the biggest button "Starting NOW!" The three Genins gave each other sideways glances "Well off you go then," Kamaki ordered, his voice harder than it had been. All three of his students turned away and leapt up into the lower branches of the trees and out of sight.

Kamaki sighed; it had been almost an hour, nearly half time. None of them had made any kind of appearance in that time. His grey eyes scanned the treetops "Well, they're hidden pretty well," He mumbled to himself, he hoped Kakashi, Asuma and the others were making better progress than he was.  
High up in the tree's, Katsumi crouched on the wide branches her eyes narrowed. She hadn't moved a muscle in almost three quarters of an hour and it was only beginning to dawn on her that if none of them attacked soon, they would fail.  
_I can't attack him from the front, he would easily see me and if I tried from the back he could turn any second and see me approaching, I have to wait until he lets his guard down but at the moment that's going to be impossible…he's too immersed in looking out for us…_  
"Psst, Kat-san," Came a hushed voice from behind her and she turned her head slightly. Secret stood on the branch behind her, a shurikun clutched in his fist. "Has anyone tried an attack yet?" He whispered and Katsumi shook her head "I'm waiting for him to slip up and then I'm going in for the attack but part of me feels that it's going to be almost impossible…"  
Secret nodded "It's going to take more than a small noise or a flash to get him where we want."  
Katsumi ran her fingers over her headband in thought and eventually she replied "I've got a plan, one of us is the diversion while the other two come at him in from behind, we're all going to have to work as a team if we want to get those bells, me, you and Kaede-san together." The Genin shook his head "Kaede-chan would never work in a team with us…"  
"Well if any of us want those bells then we're going to have to, c'mon Secret-san," And before Secret could reply, Katsumi had leapt off into the trees in search of Kaede.  
It didn't take long to find her; the brunette had run into a scrape of her own and was found by Katsumi hanging upside down in an ancient beech tree. "So what happened here?" Katsumi asked, swinging a kunai around on her index finger, Kaede glared down at her "That _idiot_ tricked me I fell into his pathetic trap and I can't get down."  
Secret landed next to Katsumi and threw his kunai up at the rope binding Kaede, it cut cleanly through and with a short yell, the kunoichi crumpled to the floor in a heap. "Secret-kun, you baka!" She snapped pulling off the loose rope from around her ankle and jumping to her feet.  
"Well how else was I supposed to get you down?" He asked irritably, scuffing his shoes in the earth and replacing the kunai inside his pouch "Anyway, Katsumi-san thinks she's got an idea on how to get those bells,"  
"But we would all need to work as a team," Katsumi cut in "I was thinking…" She was interrupted by Kaede "Work as a team with you losers? As if!"  
Katsumi narrowed her eyes "Do you want those freakin' bells or not?" She snapped. Kaede stood her ground "I don't give a damn about this stupid test, it's not fair, how are we supposed to get anywhere when we're all famished?"  
The boy stepped in front of Katsumi "You don't think Kat-san and I are hungry do you?" He asked reproachfully "But we're still trying."  
The brunette didn't answer but after a few seconds of her eyes boring into Secret's she spun around and stomped off back across the field.  
Secret let out a long breath "I had better go fetch her back before she runs into anymore trouble, Kat-san you go ahead and get one of those bells while I go find Miss Misery Guts."  
Kat giggled slightly behind her hand and Secret chuckled, "Good Luck," He grinned and flew off after Kaede.

Katsumi, who was safely concealed behind a tree, drew a quick diagram of her attack route in the dirt. _Ok, Like Secret-san said, 'its gonna take more than a small noise or a flash to get him where we want' so I'm going to have to make rather a big diversion and then come at him from behind. He's going to have to drop his guard for more than ten seconds otherwise he's not going to be an as easy target and that won't be good cos there is only one of me._  
Quickly scuffing out all trace of her plan from the ground she snuck out from her sanctuary and began about setting up stage one. Using the rope that Kamaki-Sensei had used on Kaede, she collected several large rocks from the riverbank and tied the rope securely around them. Katsumi wheezed slightly as she hurled the rope over the strongest tree branch she could find and held it with all the strength she could muster. The rocks smashed together as the large bundle rocked and the kunoichi prayed that the scraping wouldn't give her or her precious plan away.  
About thirty seconds later of painful pulling the Sensei came within sight of Katsumi. In desperation of holding the rocks tighter Katsumi hung on the rope, letting her feet leave the ground with sweat dripping from her forehead but still she didn't let up even for a second. Kamaki came ever closer and fifteen feet away from her, Kat finally let the rope go. The rocks plummeted down and hit the ground with a loud by muffled thud, breaking free from the ropes. The Sensei spun around, thrusting his hand into his pouch as he did so, Katsumi made her move.

"Kaede-chan, Wait up!" Secret called, as he slid the last few steps and came to a halt before his teamate "Leave me alone!" She hissed, turning away her eyes dark with loathing. Secret reached out and grabbed her shoulder "You can't just leave!" He cried "Katsumi-san has already gone ahead to get a bell."  
"Well she would wouldn't she," The brunette mocked and twisted so Secret had to let her arm go.  
"Don't you want to pass?" He asked "Do you want to remain in the academy forever?"  
"I already told you, I-don't-give-a-damn-about-this-stupid-test;" She recited "Anyway we only have a few minutes left anyway so what's the point?"  
"The point is to achieve our destiny and I want to be a ninja more than anything else, I would gladly bow down and give up everything I owned even if it meant getting one step closer to being just that," He replied "And I'm going to get a bell even if it leaves me half dead!"  
"But I'm too weak," Kaede pouted, turning on her self pity act "You guys are way to stronger than me, there's no hope for me…"  
Secret thumped her on the back "Your not weak Kaede-chan," He reassured, unfortunately being taken in once again by her act "I'll help you and we'll help Kat-san and I'm sure she'll help us."  
"But what if she doesn't and what if she gets a bell and won't share?" Kaede continued in her fake downcast tone.  
"Well at the moment if she gets one it will be hers to keep as she earned it," He pointed out "But tell you what, if it will cheer you up, if I get a bell I give it to you cos if I can't achieve my dream then you can for me."  
Giving him a satisfied smile, Kaede stepped forward "Well let's go back then!" She mocked.

Katsumi thrashed and twisted, throwing herself for the fifteenth time at her Sensei, her previous plan hadn't gone to well and he had known it was a set up. Kamaki dodged her flailing legs and skidded sideways "Well your not one for giving up are you?" He contemplated, running his fingers protectively over the bells tied to his belt.  
"I _never_ give up," Katsumi puffed, ramming her fingers into her cutoffs and drawing out her kunai "I'll get one eventually."  
Kamaki gave a small smile of amusement "Well if you don't get a bell you will have to this time and speaking of time _your_ time is almost up."  
Suddenly out of the blue, Katsumi had a sudden brainwave "Exactly how much time do we have left then Kamaki-Sensei?" She asked keeping her excited voice at bay. He turned his head away slightly to look at the stump and Katsumi once again charged at him, crashing into him and knocking him to the floor and this time she was victorious. Even letting his guard down for a second was complete jeopardy as Katsumi had just enough time to get him where she wanted and she grabbed the left bell from his belt. The cold metal against her fingers, she held her prize tightly in her fist and removed the kunai which she had pinned in Kamaki's gilet.  
He smiled at her, getting to his feet "Good thinking for changing tactics there," He acknowledged "Quick thinking is one of the ninja techniques that you need to stay alive in battle, well done," And pausing for a moment he grinned down at her "You pass!"


	4. Chapter 4: I will Fight until the End

3- The Bell Test

**4- I will Fight until the End**

"Ow! Not so tight!" Kaede complained as Kamaki pulled the last knot firmly. She struggled against the ropes binding her to the stump and the Sensei rested his hand on her crown. Secret just hung in his ropes and Katsumi sat cross-legged on the grass facing them all. "How come she's not tied up?" Kaede glared across at the blonde Genin,  
"Because she got a bell," Kamaki answered and Kaede frowned in confusion  
"She can't though, that's impossible…" To correct her teamate, Katsumi held up the sliver bell by the string. Secret turned his head slightly and fixed Kaede with his cold, hard stare; If only the girl hadn't been so slow in coming back then they might have been in with a chance with their plan.

"Right, as punishment for you two for being lazy asses," Kamaki announced "You will be receiving no lunch but…I have decided to extend the exercise by another hour after I have finished my lunch but first…"  
He ran his hard gaze over all three of them "We have a few issues to sort out."  
The Sensei turned to Kaede "Kaede-san, you give up too easily, you have no intention of working in a team and a Shinobi should have a natural feel for teamwork. Secret-san, you are to intent in getting Kaede-san to work with you and Katsumi-san when it's clear that she's not going to go along with you. Katsumi-san, you wait too long until attacking and then you still go ahead and do it alone, that bell you holding was gotten by some skill but mostly luck."  
He shook his head "If you want to succeed then you must overcome these obstacles."  
Katsumi looked from the stern face of her Sensei and then down at her bell and got to her feet and held it out to him. He looked down at her "What is it Katsumi-san?"  
"Kamaki-Sensei, I don't want to keep this bell, I don't want to get by on just luck…I want to get it with my trying."  
By the faces of them all, Katsumi knew what she had just said the last thing they had all suspected "I want to work in a team with both my squad members…is that ok?"  
The Sensei paused and then took the bell from her fingers  
"You idiot!" Kaede cried "That bell was your ticket to passing; you've just thrown your entire future away!"  
Not meeting Kaede's eyes, Katsumi sat back down on the grass "No I haven't because I'm going to get it back, the way I want to."  
"Well that settles that," Kamaki finished and stood up from his leaning position "See you all in half an hour."  
He grabbed up one of the two lunches from the floor and chucked one to Katsumi, his eyes were fixed and stern as she pulled away the foil "You are _forbidden_ to feed them any of that food, otherwise you will fail straight away, got that?" And then he marched off into the denser trees on their left, the other food box in his grasp. "Old git," Kaede muttered under her breath as she watched him disappear "We work out butts off all those years to get where we are and what does it do for us?"  
"We won't give up this time Kaede-chan, we have another hour," Secret pointed out.  
"But me and you Secret-kun are starved, were gonna be really ineffective," She whined and eyed Katsumi's food box. Katsumi didn't notice as she was gazing up at Secret "Katsumi-san has a plan like I said," He continued "And it's a plan that might just work."  
"Why can't we go back to the academy and try again next year? Then we could get a better Sensei that made it easier for us…" At this Katsumi lost it, jumping to her feet she clenched her fist and the food box fell from her lap "Listen to me, there is no way I'm going back to that academy, EVER" She …. "All those years I sat at the back of the class, daydreaming about how I would one day make something of myself and now I have the chance I'm not going to see it pass by me. I don't want it easy like you, I want it the hardest it gets so I can prove to myself that I am worthy, why else would I give that bell back to Sensei. I don't want things to happen the easy way, by luck, I want a challenge. Something that will test me…I'm never going to take the easy way out!"  
All three of them were silent for a few seconds and then Secret spoke up "So there you have it, which proves two of us are willing to succeed, now…what about you Kaede-chan?"  
The brown kunoichi let out a long breath and after pausing for a moment nodded "Ok, I'm in…so what's that plan?"  
"We'll talk tactics later, lets all have a rest first," Katsumi suggested, resting her back against the stump which did not have a Genin tied to it.  
"Wait Katsumi-san, aren't you eating lunch?" Secret asked.  
The Genin shook her head and went back to playing with the small bracelet "If we want to win fairly then we have to play fairly, if you guys can't eat then neither can I"  
"But that's just stupid…I mean if your famished too, how are we going to be able to get the bells?" Kaede retorted her expression implying that the kunoichi before her was mad.  
"It _would_ be impossible if we were working against each other but going together as one, I think we would be in with a chance," She grinned and touched the metal on her forehead protector with one finger "I wasn't really hungry anyway!"


	5. Chapter 5: Last Chance for Sucess

3- The Bell Test

**5- Last Chance for Success**

"Well we're all looking very comfortable here," Kamaki grimaced as he gazed upon the three Genin's before him. All three looked incredibly hungry by now and even he hadn't been able to eat much. Kaede shot him a death glance as he lifted a kunai and cut through the bonds "Right, I hope you three have learnt your lessons, let's get back to business."

Katsumi noticed the silver bell hanging off her Sensei's belt and smiled "This time," She muttered.

"One more hour that's all you have now," Kamaki reminded them "And this time I want to see some serious improvement."

He reset the timer and pointed off across the field, the Genins didn't need any more information about what he was getting at.

"So what's the plan then?" Kaede asked as she, Katsumi and Secret hid behind a large boulder a few meters away.

"We need one of us to be the diversion while the other two go in and get the bells, we need the person with the most ability to keep an audience to be the diversion," Katsumi explained, straining her eyes as far as she could in order to see where her Sensei was.

"But which one of us?" Secret asked, he looked over at Katsumi and she looked back at him and then they both turned their heads to face Kaede. The brunette's face filled with horror "Why are you looking at me?" She retorted, anger building up in her eyes. "If you get the bells you'll pass and I'll be stuck back at the academy for another year…Why is it always me?"

"I thought you didn't care about that," Secret pointed out.

"But I do now, I really do," The girl was almost on the verge of tears at the thought of being left behind. Suddenly Katsumi spoke up "Ok, let's do our own test, a vote or election of sorts, each of us will say why we should pass and what will it accomplish for ourselves."

"Me first!" Kaede announced and stood up "When I become a ninja and pass the bell test I shall put in all my efforts to protect my team and myself."

"Shu, that'll be the day," Secret whispered and Katsumi had to stifle a small giggle.

"Ok, Secret-san, what about you?" Kat asked the boy.

"If I pass this test, I shall protect my squad and my village with my life; I shall fight against all evil and make the Hidden Leaf Village proud."

"And if I pass I will serve both the Leaf and Night Village as both are to be my home, I will look after my squad and friends." Katsumi finished. There was a long painful pause between the three of them.

"Well who deserves to pass?" Secret asked.

"We don't know if anyone is going to pass yet and we've already wasted about fifteen minutes," Kaede answered grimly.

Katsumi sat in very deep thought for a while and sighed, there was only going to be one way around this.

"Kaede-san if your diversion and Secret-san and I get the bells I will persuade Sensei to pass all three of us or none at all," She turned to Secret "Is that ok?"

"We'd be making an awfully huge sacrifice if we lost," Secret mumbled "But if it's going to be the only answer around this then I guess let it go fourth."

"Will you work with us Kaede-san if we promise to go along with this?" Katsumi pleaded her eyes wide.

Kaede lent back and watched the clouds "Whatever," She replied heartily "What do you want me to do?"

Secret turned his head away to hide his disgust, ever since the age of six he had been stuck with this girl. She always did this, put on the sad act so that everyone would make a fuss of her; she would always go back on her word about everything and was hard to keep interested in anything for more than ten minutes. She never took anything seriously and did everything she could to get out of it or do the poorest job she could, obsessed with nothing but herself. He had tried to be nice to her but it was always thrown back in his face or even taken advantage of. He was sick to death of her, but he knew he could never say anything; nothing could change Kaede Feinma now as she was too set in her ways.

"Just distract Sensei some how, that's your choice, just make as much of a diversion of possible so he won't notice me and Secret-san coming up behind him,"

"Ok, Ok, I don't need a running commentary," Kaede huffed and got to her feet and sidled out into the clearing. Immediately she dropped to the floor and clutched her foot, making painful devastated moaning noises "Ow!" She cried "My foot, I've broken my foot, get a Med-nin!"

"Wow, that's so fake it's almost believable," Secret grinned looking out a Kaede. Suddenly Kamaki landed just a few inches away from Kaede's head "Y'know that's hardy good enough," Kamaki sighed, shaking his head so that his brown ponytail fell behind his head. Katsumi grabbed Secret's arm "Now! He's distracted!" She cried and flew out of their hiding place dragging Secret with her. The two Genins pelted across the grassy landscape straight at their Sensei, pulling kunais and shurikuns as they went. Moments away Kamaki lightly raised his arm and swung it back. Secret and Katsumi were thrown sideways and hit the ground with such force that the weapons they had been holding slid out of their grip. They skidded half a meter away and Secret pushed himself up, feeling quite dazed.

"Your going to have to do a lot better than that," Kamaki smiled, seizing Kaede and setting her on her feet "Oh my god Kaede-san," He exclaimed sarcastically "Your foot seems to have suddenly, somehow got better, I guess we'll cancel the Med-nin's visit after all." And patted her curls, she glowered angrily.

Back inside the center of another bush the squad sat in silence, thinking deeply about what they could try next "I guess all three of us could rush at him together," Secret suggested, biting his finger nails in anxiousness. "Could work," Katsumi agreed "But how could we if there was nothing keeping him busy."

"I guess if we all attacked from different sides, like Kaede-san from the east, me from the north and you from the south, the only way he could run to was the west and we could have a barrier of sorts blocking his way."

"I like it," Kaede agreed instantly "It's the only way now."

"But what could be blocking him?" Katsumi wondered allowed and then her face lifted "The River is to the west, he would have to cross that river to get away from us and it ain't no paddling pool!"

"Well then that's what we'll do," Secret smiled "We'll just have to do it straight away as our time is almost up. Girls can you do any Jutsus that could help us? I'm pretty crap,"

"Transformation Jutsu," Kaede muttered.

"Any air Jutsu kinda," Katsumi commented, Kaede and Secret turned to look at the Genin "I'm an air spirit," Katsumi explained quietly.

"Ok, when we're going in for the attack, I'll whistle loudly to alert you two but both of you have to be on your guard all the time and don't make even the slightest sound otherwise he will know we're onto him."

He looked uneasily at Kaede but she was staring at the ground rocking, chewing on her nails her own troubled look across her face.

Outside, Kaede strolled off to the east and hid behind a large oak tree, Secret to the North and crouched low in the long grass. Katsumi crept off to the south and bent low down by the posts and waited for Kamaki to come back to the center where he would be trapped. Her eyes filled with hunger strayed to the abandoned food box by the middle post and she felt her stomach rumble, pleading with her. She closed her eyes and willed herself to continue with the task she had been set telling herself that she could eat later.

All three of them observed the area for ten minutes in total silence except for the rush of wind through the leaves. Another five minutes past but there was still no sign of the missing Sensei. Katsumi caught sight of the timer and felt her face drain of all color, there was only two minutes left.

"C'mon!" She thought desperately and scanned the area, her breathing rapid and the sweat dripping from her forehead, the seconds ticked on mocking her.

Suddenly the Sensei appeared doing his thirtieth circle of the field, from behind the post Katsumi heard Secret's shrill whistle and charged out. From across the large clearing she could see Secret doing the same, coming at Kamaki from the North, she allowed herself a small glance to the East where Kaede pelting from. Together they raced towards the Sensei. Kamaki looked around at all three of them and smiled, so they had finally cracked it had they? He reached inside his gilet for something to defend himself with. Katsumi gritted her teeth as she saw what the Sensei was doing and began performing hand signals to cast up an air Jutsu, she forced the chakra up her throat and closed her eyes which stung with the rush of wind and blew on her two fingers. Icy torrents of pure air spilled from the kunoichi's mouth and circled around the Sensei, trapping him in its folds. With a triumphant roar, Secret launched himself into the tight ball followed quickly by Kaede whose hair looked like she had hold of a static ball. Katsumi coughed as a burning sensation from the amount of chakra slashed at her esophagus, the second she lost concentration the air ball vanished in front of their eyes. The Genin stumbled blindly forward and half tripped, half threw herself into the ongoing battle. Kaede was desperately trying to break free of a headlock she was in and Secret had a kunai raised. As Kamaki spun around trying to deflect Katsumi and Secret at the same time, Secret brought the kunai lashing through the air, the strings of the bells cut and both of them flew in opposite directions. Secret caught one with his free hand while the other flew towards the river which only happened to be a few feet away. Kaede let out a yelp as the bell rose higher almost in slow motion and began to plummet down towards the waters. All at once a hand stretched out and snatched the bell away from the fate of the river. Katsumi knelt beside the banks her eyes wide and surprised as the copper bell rang dully in her fingers. "I- I did it," She allowed herself to gasp in disbelief before she let the darkness obscure her.

"She's only passed out, she'll be fine."

Voices was the first thing that reached Katsumi's ears as consciousness flooded back to her, "That was a pretty violent Jutsu though," She heard Kamaki confirm with the others "You can't just leap into a Jutsu that strong without taking it in stages."

"I'm fine," Katsumi moaned and opened her eyes. The entire squad stood over her, Kamaki smiled "That's one way to get a bell."

Katsumi rubbed her bloodshot eyes and felt warm metal against her face, the bell. She was still holding the bell in her left hand.

"We all passed!" Secret grinned, holding up his own prize.

"But…Kaede-san…there were only two bells," She turned to look at the brunette.

"That's true," Kamaki agreed "But this exercise was to test your skills of working together in a team and if you succeeded in doing just that then you would get through. You three worked together in getting those bells and therefore all three of you pass."

Katsumi pulled herself to her feet and caught Secret's eye, he winked and slipped the bell into his pocket when Kamaki wasn't looking.

"Right then," Kamaki grinned, as he led the party back across the field to posts and the gate. On a bag tied to the fence, he dipped his fingers in a produced three large rice balls

"Time for some lunch for you three I think!"


	6. Chapter 6: A Bond that Death can't Break

3- The Bell Test

**6- A Bond that Death Cannot Break**

It had been a long hard day, Kamaki was worn out and the thought of getting home was all he could think about. As he turned to leave the field his eye caught something on the far left, turning slightly his gaze fell on Katsumi, standing alone on the highest point of the hill, she had recovered pretty quickly he noticed. The Genin was motionless, her blonde hair whipping out behind her in the wind. Intrigued to know why she hadn't gone back with the others he sidled up the pathway and came to a halt behind her. "Katsumi-san?" He asked suspiciously. Broken from her trance, Kat spun around "Kamaki-Sensei?" She gasped her eyes wide and shocked like those of a startled rabbit.  
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you…" Kamaki apologized "Katsumi-san what are you doing out here at this time? Shouldn't you be heading back to your own village by now?"  
Katsumi bit her lip and then looked back out over the river "I was just…pondering that's all…"  
Kamaki placed a hand on her shoulder "Anything you want to talk about?" Katsumi shook her head "I promise I'll start walking back in a bit," She gabbled.  
"The forests can be dangerous at night, especially for a young Genin like you."  
"Oh I think I could handle it," She smiled but her face was still a little bit unsure.  
"Trust me, you haven't seen the things that I have seen," Kamaki sighed, sinking down onto a rock by the riverbank and watched his reflection in the flowing current. "Sensei?"  
Kamaki looked up from the water and peered over at the kunoichi stood before him. "Katsumi-san, I've wanted to ask you something, you know this morning you said you had a 'strong bond' with your cousin so you remember?"  
Trawling through her memory bank Katsumi nodded "Yes, I remember, it was this morning?"  
"That's right well anyway, Katsumi-san are you bonded with them by a power called Kizuna?"  
Kat's face was a blank.  
"I'm guessing by your expression that you have absolutely no idea what Kizuna is do you?"  
The Genin shook her head "No, what is Kizuna? I think I've heard it somewhere before…"  
"Kizuna is a very strong bond between two people; normally it starts at birth of the second person and both people can communicate telepathically and read each other…in fact it's so strong that's a bond not even death can break…" He turned his head slightly in Katsumi's direction "Is it like that for you too?"  
The girl looked out to the sunset and seated herself down beside her Sensei "Yes," She muttered "But I don't understand, what do you mean by 'death cannot break'?"  
"I mean that it's so strong that death cannot break it, just damages it," By her face he realised she still didn't understand "Look for example, my sister recently passed away, me and her were bound by Kizuna but now that she's gone…everything becomes harder."  
It hurt so much to talk about his sister, a thick burning feeling was rising in his chest and it was hard to talk. Katsumi noticed this too and patted her Sensei's shoulder lightly" If it hurts then don't use you and her as an example," She suggested "If I have this Kizuna something then use me as your example."  
Kamaki shook his head "No, Katsumi-san I have to learn to let go and move on…" There was a long paused before he continued "Anyway after my Sister died, Kizuna released this thing into me, I guess we could call it 'The Demon' or Kizuna-akki and well this thing is to make sure your finished as well…I don't want to scare you Katsumi-san but as your Sensei I feel it's almost my duty for you to know what is out there and after your performance today, from what I've seen you're a very mature and able young lady."  
"I'm not scared, I want to know," Katsumi mumbled, swinging her legs over the water. Kamaki rubbed the back of his head and sighed "Ok, well anyway this 'Demon' can easily possess you after a while and make you loose self control, it feeds off your pain and misery, sometimes even going as far as making you inflict self harm," He pulled back the sleeve of his left arm and showed the kunoichi a series of wounds down one side of his arm "The stronger it gets the easier it is for it to control you itself, do you understand?"  
"I think so, so if something happened to me or Rei-neechan, she's my cousin the one who I might be bound by Kizuna with, if something happened then would the other one who was left feel this 'demon's' presence?"  
"Precisely," Kamaki nodded.  
"So what happens if the other one is resurrected, does the demon just go away, or die, or what?"  
"That I'm not sure of, I guess the demon would just stay inside of you until you found a way to release it if that's at all possible. Until today I thought I was the only Ki-Pa-Kizuna left alive, that's bondkeeper by the way because most of them were killed many years ago by a group that called themselves 'the bondcutters'. Most of this I know from experience and hours of research. I've had things happen to me that no other human I know has ever had. Flashbacks of parts of my life in photographic memory that I have forgotten about completely…  
Katsumi closed her eyes "There are times where I can feel pain when I am not hurt but at the same time my cousin is hurting, I can feel happy when Rei-neechan is happy and sad when she is sad, in fact, now I think about it we are so close we could be one,"  
"And what happens when one half of you dies?"  
"You cannot live in peace for you are forever hurting," An expression of realisation and triumph washed over Katsumi's face.  
She stood up and turned her face upwards to the sky "It all makes sense to me now."  
Kamaki smiled to himself and looked out across the darkening waters; it was comforting to know that he wasn't alone. ""Everyone thought that Kizuna died out twenty years ago when I was just a Genin like you, hardly anyone knew of the bond I shared with my sister. I guess there are more of us out there, it's just hard to tell who is as Kizuna never shows itself."  
"Silent suffering," Katsumi murmured and got to her feet.  
"Good Lord is it that dark already?" Kamaki cried looking up at the sky "You'd better be getting going. I sorry this conversation certainly overran the limits."  
"It doesn't matter," Katsumi shrugged "Thank you Kamaki-Sensei, I've learnt so much about who I really am today."  
The Sensei smiled up at her "You keep training and working Katsumi-san, look into the water a moment,"  
Katsumi lent forward and saw the dark blue current rush past her and her own reflection staring back "You see; there's a strong and able Shinobi standing right in front of you and one day you'll be that Shinobi."  
Katsumi nodded, "See you tomorrow Sensei!" She announced after a few seconds and made her way back towards the forest.

_"Careful!!" Kenwa cried, grabbing Kamaki's shoulder "Aneechan, I can do this; I'm not a little kid anymore!" He smiled and held up the kunai in his left hand, he pulled away from his older sister and drawing back his fist, hurled the kunai at the target nailed to the tree. The kunai missed by inches and smashed into the metal frames on a few of the other boards. It came soaring back at Kamaki and slashed his cheek as it past. Letting out a scream, Kamaki fell to the floor, his hand pressed tightly to the cut. After a lot of frantic crying and pleading from Kenwa, the kunoichi managed to get Kamaki to show her the wound. "You foolish child!" She stammered, dabbing lightly at his cheek to stop an infection "Aneechan, I was so scared." He cried with tears in his eyes. Kenwa held her little brother close to her "Don't be," She breathed into his ear which was covered slightly by his brown mop "I'm here little brother."_

When Kamaki came back to reality he found himself alone on the dark riverbank with the moon and the stars shining brightly above him. "Goodnight Kenwa-neechan," He whispered into the darkness and remained where he was for a few seconds to let the last of the pain subside.


	7. Chapter 7: Life as a Genin

3- The Bell Test

**7- Life as a Genin**

Katsumi struggled through the last of the branches blocking her path, the morning sun glared down through the gaps in the leaves. It was a peaceful start to the day and Katsumi felt pretty content, she bit delicately into the corner of the piece of toast she had with her. Ever since she had started coming to Konoha she had found she had to skip breakfast or take it with her. Two hours every morning and evening: there and back. Kamaki wanted the team to start as early as possible so they could fit as many missions into the day as possible which when none of them were in the mood was incredibly annoying.  
Every mission had been terribly boring so far, weeding people's gardens, taking out their trash and sweeping their pathways were probably the best ones that Katsumi could pick out from the load. At the end of each day she wished tomorrow they would be issued with a better mission but it was always in false hope.  
She met Secret and Kaede by the bridge, Secret smiled at her as she approached the two of them "Isn't Kamaki-Sensei here yet?" Katsumi asked, chucking the rest of her toast to the birds.  
"Honestly Kat-san you should know by now that Sensei is never early," Kaede grimaced; suddenly giving a huge yell and falling backwards over the rails.  
"Whoops!" Kamaki grinned and seized Kaede's shirt before she could fall in "Right on cue."  
Kaede yelled and struggled free from her Sensei who paid her no attention to her complaints as usual as he addressed the others, "Right mission for today! Hokage has issued us with a dangerous mission. One so daring that it will test your very soul!"  
"Finally!" Secret exclaimed and lent in closer with Katsumi to hear more, the tension rose as they waited.  
"You three are going to…be washing the dishes at Ichiraku's!"  
Katsumi and Secret collapsed backwards "Aw Man!" Secret cried, "You always do this Sensei, I still don't understand why we still fall for it!"  
"Because you trust me," Kamaki responded, a satisfied smile crossing his lips "Now c'mon and move otherwise we'll be for it later."

Kaede lagged behind, keeping well away from the Sensei who strolled off in front keeping pace with his other two students. She wouldn't ever tell anyone but Kamaki frightened her a little, the way he always seemed to be there when she was about to badmouth him.

"These missions are getting crappier by the day!" Secret moaned, gripping his bangs and screwing up his face: "Why can't we do something fun for once?"

Kamaki thumped Secret hard on the shoulder "Every one of these missions is going to make you stronger, although it might not seem like it now you are training for your future. I went through all the same hardship when I was a Genin everyone does, so you'll just have to learn to live with it."

"But we do all the hard work for free," Katsumi continued as if Kamaki hadn't just spoken "I mean c'mon we've spent the past week doing all the crap that servants, no slaves are expected to do,"

"No _we_ aren't paid but the citizens pay to have the Genin's do the work and then all the money is put towards stuff that you guys will enjoy," Kamaki resolved and the look he gave the two of them told them that the conversation had come to a close.

The remainder of the journey went moderately well until they reached the small bar and the smell of cooking ramen hit them. Breakfast suddenly seemed like hours ago and even Kamaki felt his mouth water a little. An old man stepped out from behind the drapes as he heard them approaching and studied the three Genins and their Sensei. "Team Thirteen?" He rasped; Kamaki nodded.

"Here to wash and dry the dishes as promised Teuchi-san," The old man inspected the three children and then indicated for them to step inside to the back "Please wipe your feet and wear the aprons that I have provided," Teuchi ordered "We like to keep a clean environment here."

The three crisp aprons hung from nails in the side of the wall in the back of the shop, it was a bit crowded due to a large caldron half drowned in soup took up most of the space and a large basin on the other side. The kitchen utensils sparkled from their hooks, packs upon packs of disposable chopsticks lined the countertops and the entire room reeked of noodles. Ayame, the daughter of the old man gave all three of them a friendly smile as they entered and slung on the aprons as told to. Their boss for the day came in a few minutes later; he gave the large pot a single stir as he passed it and dumped a pile of dirty bowls on the draining board. "It's our busiest day today," he announced "So we have a lot of orders to get through, team thirteen you just wash up whilst me Ayame-chan cook, is that ok?"

Kaede took a moment to glance at the rest of her squad but the boy and the girl were more intent on filling up the massive basin, there was no getting out of it this time.

Katsumi scrubbed variously at the bowl in her grip but still the gunk on the bottom refused to budge "This job is hopeless!" She deplored and threw the scourer back in the depths of the sink. Secret ran the towel around the last bowl that Katsumi had handed to him "Do you wanna swap for a while? I'm probably not the best at washing up in this village but I don't mind taking over for a while,"

Katsumi gratefully stepped back "Savior," She uttered. Kaede returned to collect the bowl that Secret had discarded; she paused for a while beside Katsumi before she spoke up "Do you think we might get a better mission tomorrow?"

"Doubt it," Katsumi glowered at the tea towel as if it had been the one to issue them with such a boring mission "D-rank and maybe C-rank is all that Genin's get these days."

"C'mon you two lets get this one done and show Sensei that we can be responsible enough to get a higher ranking mission," Secret suggested but the others weren't having any of it "You're such an optimist all of the time Secret-kun," Kaede sighed "And I still don't see how weeks of hard labor is going to make us good ninja?"

"Because we can't just jump into being great ninja without practice first, we have to work to get there," He spun around to face Katsumi "And I thought you wanted to be a great Shinobi Kat-san, I thought you were prepared to go through anything to achieve your goal?"

"But I can do most of this stuff anyway," Katsumi grumbled "I'm the one who cares for the family when my father is away; surly I've had enough practice on running a household."

Kaede moved away for a minute to set the ceramic bowl back on the shelf while Katsumi was left to argue out the final predicament with Secret "You've certainly changed your tone about this, earlier you were saying this mission was a waste of time,"

"Well…I've been thinking about what Sensei said and maybe it's for the best that we make the most of these D and C-rank missions because at the end of the day we have to either like them or lump them."

Katsumi let herself rest against the draining board for a second to think "I _am_ trying to co-operate but it's just so hard doing the same thing day after day, I know I've had enough experience with these Genin tasks and I'm ready to try something more challenging, that's why I wanted to become a great Shinobi Secret-san, don't you remember?"

_I don't want it easy like you, I want a challenge. Something that will test me…I'm never going to take the easy way out!_

"But by flunking all these easy missions you are taking the easy way out," Secret tried to convince her "Kamaki –Sensei knows when we're ready for a bigger challenge but by moaning and making a big thing of this we're not showing him we're responsible enough."

Before he could continue Kaede made an appearance, her face was crimson with anger. "That moron is sitting at that bar, stuffing his fat face with noodles while we're in here slaving away for nothing!" She snarled "Miso Ramen on the house while he can sit and laugh at us three doing all the hard work."

"Sensei does that a lot," Katsumi sighed but Kaede wasn't listening "I don't know how much more of this I can take!" She spat and held up one of the dishes that Secret had discarded, ready for a massive smashing session. Both Genin's threw themselves on her as she drew back her arm "Don't be so stupid!" Secret argued "If you do it's going to be much worse for all of us."

Katsumi snatched the vessel away from Kaede out of harms way "Do you wanna get puni…?" She began but was cut off by Kamaki's voice which floated calmly into there midst "Everything ok back here?" The all turned to observe the Sensei.

"Kamaki-Sensei!" Kaede responded, breaking free of her squad's hold "We've all had enough of this worthless stuff and none of us are refusing to do anymore work until our demands are met,"

"Oi!" Katsumi cried grabbing her teammates shoulder "Since when did we sign this treaty?"

"Shut up you fool, I'm trying to make life easier for us," Kaede snarled back.

"Well your doing a pretty cruddy job then," Katsumi huffed, yanking her shoulder roughly.

Kamaki sighed and rubbed his brow with his sleeve "I'm at the end of my tether with you three. If you want a better mission then I'm not the one to speak to, you're going to have to ask Hokage-sama VERY politely and show that you're mature and responsible enough but at the moment you're scoring lower than three out of ten so shut up and get back to work while I go check my ramen hasn't gone cold." He turned to go but then Kaede's voice diverted him "That's another thing, you always sit around while we do all the work,"

"Kaede-chan has got a point Sensei, "Secret spoke up stepping forward "Are the Senseis allowed to do that?"

Kamaki bent down to Kaede's level, his brow knitted into a frown "I've told you before; I've already done all this when I was a Genin so I don't need this sort of training anymore and it's not sitting around watching it's making sure you three get the job done. Anyway who said it was just me eating ramen? Teuchi-san said he was going to treat you three to some of his best batah and miso ramen if you met his standards but now I think that offer is tipping slightly; when are you going to realize that this is part of your training and not just ordinary chores?"

Katsumi looked around at her squad and noticed their faces changing into uncomfortable expressions at his words. Everyone seemed to temporary have lost their voices as they all burned with guilt. "We're…sorry Kamaki-sensei," She admitted quietly. For a moment Katsumi thought the Sensei flashed a smile in her direction but when he stood back up she reckoned she had imagined it.

"Everything alright?" Teuchi asked, coming into the back with a smile. The three Genin's held their breath waiting for the Sensei to tell their temporary boss on them. "Yes everything's fine, I was just checking on my team Teuchi-san, they're nearly finished," Kamaki reassured. As Teuchi left, Kamaki turned to them "Back to work you three and if you finish those dishes in the next hour none of these past five minutes happened ok?"

Katsumi, Kaede and Secret let out a relived sigh but they all knew, even Kaede that they had been let off narrowly this once, but next time they wouldn't be so lucky.

Later that day, Squad thirteen entered the office of the third Hokage, who sat with Iruka at the curved desk on the opposite side of the room. They were all tense as they stood in a line wondering which one of them would ask for a higher ranking mission. Kamaki had made it pretty clear earlier that he wouldn't be the one asking for them. He slouched a way away in the corner, fiddling with his headband and paying no attention to any of his squad. "Please Hokage-sama sir," Kaede piped up at last "We've done all our missions up to scratch…can we…"

Sarutobi lifted a finger to silence the girl and rifled through his papers, eventually drawing out the list of requests sent in "Mr and Mrs Nara need their front door painted, Mr Abruame needs his bug boxes sterilized, Mrs…"

"She means something that's higher D-rank, Hokage-sama," Secret explained hurriedly "If it's not too much trouble?" He added in hope of sounding polite.

The Hokage rested his head on his hands and thought for a moment then turned to face Iruka, "What is your option on this Iruka-san?" He considered sternly.

Iruka looked over the three of them. Secret treading on the edges of his shoes looking anxious: Kaede who stood beside him her hands on her hips and Katsumi who stood at the back looking vague. "It's the same situation with team seven Hokage-sama," He answered Sarutobi after a moment "They requested a higher mission too."

"What is the status for them so far Kamaki-san?" Sarutobi addressed the Sensei "How have they been performing?"

"They are a good squad when they work together," Kamaki claimed, not taking his eyes off the opposite wall.

"And do you feel they are ready for a higher ranking mission?" Iruka added.

"We've been ready for ages!" Kaede urged but was given a look by her old sensei that told her to stop pushing her luck or she would get squat.

"I think we should try them on a C-rank," Kamaki admitted "Give them a test run and see how it goes."

Iruka and the Hokage looked at each other for a minute and then getting up, Sarutobi moved around the desk "For a C mission, you will be escorting a merchant to the land of wind. He must arrive in three days but if you push yourself you could probably complete it in two. The gentleman will be arriving in a few hours and he will meet you by the gates so good luck."


End file.
